The Importance Placed on the Monitoring of Food Safety and Quality by Australian Consumers
Abstract
:1. Introduction
Food Regulation in Australia
2. Method
- Food scientists
- Consumer organizations (like Choice and the Heart Foundation)
- The press, radio and television
- Local council
- State Government
- Federal Government
Data Analyses
Demographic predictor variables | N (%) |
---|---|
Age | |
Under 30 years | 249 (22.5) |
30–44 years | 326 (29.4) |
45–59 years | 272 (24.6) |
60 years and over | 261 (23.5) |
Sex | |
Male | 547 (49.3) |
Female | 562 (50.7) |
People in household | |
One person household | 177 (16.0) |
Two people in the household | 346 (31.2) |
Three to four people in the household | 403 (36.4) |
Five or more people in the household | 183 (16.5) |
Children under 18 in household | |
None | 674 (60.8) |
One | 166 (15.0) |
Two | 169 (15.3) |
Three or more | 100 (9.0) |
Marital status | |
Married/Living with partner | 665 (59.9) |
Separated/Divorced/Widowed | 149 (13.5) |
Never married | 293 (26.4) |
Work status | |
Full time employed | 507 (45.8) |
Part time employed/Unemployed | 228 (20.6) |
Economically inactive (home duties, student, retired, etc.) | 372 (33.6) |
Education | |
Secondary | 490 (44.2) |
Trade, certificate, diploma | 345 (31.1) |
Degree or higher | 274 (24.7) |
Annual household income | |
Up to $30,000 | 212 (22.6) |
$30,001–$60,000 | 231 (24.6) |
$60,001–$100,000 | 253 (27.0) |
$100,001 or more | 243 (25.9) |
SEIFA (IRSD) | |
Lowest quintile | 201 (18.1) |
Low quintile | 266 (24.0) |
Middle quintile | 218 (19.7) |
High quintile | 212 (19.2) |
Highest quintile | 211 (19.1) |
ARIA | |
Major cities | 627 (56.5) |
Inner regional | 293 (26.4) |
Outer regional | 156 (14.1) |
(Very) Remote | 33 (3.0) |
3. Results
3.1. Importance of Monitoring the Safety and Quality of Food
Survey item ‘In terms of monitoring the safety and quality of food, how important are the following?’ | ‘Not very important’ N (%) | ‘Very important’ N (%) |
---|---|---|
Food scientists | 622 (59.9) | 416 (40.1) |
Consumer organisations | 579 (52.4) | 526 (47.6) |
Media | 849 (77.5) | 246 (22.5) |
Local council | 716 (67.6) | 343 (32.4) |
State government | 619 (57.3) | 461 (42.7) |
Federal government | 524 (48.9) | 548 (51.1) |
Personal monitoring | 265 (24.0) | 840 (76.0) |
Binary index of all monitoring | 648 (59.3) | 444 (40.7) |
Mean (separate items only) | 596 (55.4) | 483 (44.6) |
3.2. Demographic Indicators for the Importance of Food Safety and Quality Monitoring
Importance of monitoring by: | Monitoring Index OR, (95% CI), significance |
---|---|
Sex (Male) | |
Female | 1.5 (1.2–1.9) |
Age (Under 30 years) | |
30–44 years | 2.3(1.5–3.4) *** |
45–59 years | 2.7 (1.8–4.1) *** |
60+ years | 3.2 (2.1–5.0) *** |
# People in household (Single person household) | |
2 | 1.1 (0.8–1.6) |
3–4 | 1.4 (0.9–2.3) |
5+ | 2.9 (1.6–5.6) ** |
# Children in household (None) | |
One | 0.7 (0.5–1.1) |
Two | 0.5 (0.3–0.8) ** |
Three or more | 0.2 (0.1–0.4) *** |
ARIA (Major cities) | |
Inner regional | 0.8 (0.6–1.1) |
Outer regional | 0.4 (0.3–0.7) *** |
(Very) Remote | 0.7 (0.4–1.6) |
Importance of monitoring by: | Food Scientists | Consumer Organs. | Local Council | Media | State Govt | Federal Govt | Personal Monitoring |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
OR (95% CI) | OR (95% CI) | OR (95% CI) | OR (95% CI) | OR (95% CI) | OR (95% CI) | OR (95% CI) | |
Model fit: χ² (df) | 78.3 (13) *** | 70.2 (12) *** | 46.8 (8) *** | 19.3 (6) ** | 32.0 (5) *** | 42.3 (8) *** | 60.8 (12) *** |
Sex (Male) | |||||||
Female | 1.8 (1.4–2.3) | 1.9 (1.4–2.7) | |||||
Age (Under 30 years) | |||||||
30–44 years | 2.9 *** (1.8–4.5) | 1.7 **(1.2–2.5) | 2.1 *** (1.4–3.2) | 2.0 ** (1.3–3.1) | 1.5 (*) (1.0–2.3) | ||
45–59 years | 3.1 *** (1.9–4.9) | 1.6 * (1.1–2.3) | 2.7 *** (1.7–4.1) | 1.2 (0.8–1.9) | 2.0 ** (1.3–3.3) | ||
60+ years | 3.8***(2.3–6.2) | 1.2 (0.8–1.7) | 2.5*** (1.6–3.9) | 1.3 (0.8–2.1) | 1.8 * (1.1–3.1) | ||
# People in household (Single person household) | |||||||
2 | 2.5 *** (1.6–4.1) | ||||||
3–4 | 1.9* (1.2–3.1) | ||||||
5+ | 1.7 (*) (0.9–3.0) | ||||||
# Children in household (None) | |||||||
One | 0.9 (0.6–1.3) | 0.6* (0.4–0.9) | 1.3 (0.9–1.9) | ||||
Two | 0.5 ** (0.3–0.8) | 0.7 (0.4–1.0) | 0.8 (0.5–1.1) | ||||
Three or more | 0.7 (0.4–1.1) | 0.4 ** (0.2–0.7) | 0.5 ** (0.3–0.8) | ||||
Work status (Full time employment) | |||||||
Part time/ Unemployed | 0.9 (0.7–1.3) | 0.9 (0.7–1.3) | 1.2 (0.9–1.7) | 1.2 (0.9–1.7) | |||
Economically inactive | 1.7 **(1.2–2.3) | 1.6 * (1.1–2.2) | 2.0 *** (1.5–2.6) | 1.6 ** (1.2–2.1) | |||
Education (< secondary) | |||||||
Trade, certificate, diploma | 1.6 * (1.1–2.4) | ||||||
Degree or higher | 1.4 (0.9–2.1) | ||||||
Household income (< $30,000) | |||||||
$30,001–$60,000 | 0.6 * (0.4–0.9) | 1.4 (0.8–2.3) | |||||
$60,001–$100,000 | 0.5 ** (0.3–0.8) | 0.6* (0.4–0.9) | |||||
> $100,001 | 0.5 ** (0.3–0.8) | 0.9 (0.5–1.6) | |||||
IRSD (Lowest quintile) | |||||||
Low quintile | 0.8 (0.5–1.3) | ||||||
Middle quintile | 1.7* (1.1–2.7) | ||||||
High quintile | 1.1 (0.7–1.7) | ||||||
Highest quintile | 1.3 (0.8–2.3) | ||||||
ARIA (Major cities) | |||||||
Inner regional | 0.8 (0.6–1.2) | 0.9 (0.7–1.3) | 0.9 (0.7–1.3) | 0.8(*) (0.6–1.0) | 0.6 ** (0.5–0.8) | ||
Outer regional | 0.8 (0.5–1.2) | 0.7 (0.5–1.0) | 0.6 * (0.4–0.9) | 0.7 * (0.5–0.9) | 0.6 **(0.4–0.9) | ||
(Very) Remote | 2.7 * (1.1–6.5) | 2.3 * (1.1–5.2) | 0.5 (0.2–1.1) | 0.7 (0.3–1.4) | 0.7 (0.3–1.5) |
4. Discussion
Strengths and Limitations
5. Conclusions
Acknowledgements
Conflict of Interest
References and Notes
- Paul Mead, Laurence Slutsker, Vance Dietz, Linda McCaig, Joseph Bresee, Craig Shapiro, Patricia Griffin, and Robert Taux. “Food-related illness and death in the United States.” Emerging Infectious Diseases 5 (1999): 607–25. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Graham Bentham, and I.H. Langford. “Environmental temperatures and the incidence of food poisoning in England and Wales.” International Journal of Biometeorology 45 (2001): 22–26. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Romsey Australia. “Worldwide increases in food borne illnesses.” 2009. http://home.iprimus.com.au/foo7/badfood.html.
- Elizabeth Redmond, and Christopher Griffith. “Consumer perceptions of food safety risk, Control and responsibility.” Appetite 43 (2004): 309–13. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- John Coveney. “Food & Trust in Australia: Building a picture.” Public Health Nutrition 11 (2008): 237–45. [Google Scholar] [PubMed]
- Sandra Buchler, Kiah Smith, and Geoffrey Lawrence. “Food risks, old and new: Demographic characteristics and perceptions of food additives, regulation and contamination in Australia.” Journal of Sociology 46 (2010): 353–74. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Florence Bergeaud-Blacker, and Maria Ferrenti. “More politics, stronger consumers? A new division of responsibility for food in the European Union.” Appetite 47 (2006): 134–42. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Tim Lang, and Michael Heasman. Food Wars: The Global Battle for Mouths, Minds and Markets. London: Earthscan, 2004. [Google Scholar]
- Michele Veeman. “Changing consumer demand for food regulations.” Canadian Journal of Agricultral Economics 47 (1999): 401–09. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Roberta Sassatelli, and Alan Scott. “Novel Food, New Markets and Trust Regimes.” European Societies 3 (2001): 213–44. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Corinne Wales, Mark Harvey, and Alan Warde. “Recuperating from BSE: The shifting UK institutional basis for trust in food.” Appetite 47 (2006): 187–95. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Doris Fuchs, Agni Kalfagianni, and Tetty Havinga. “Actors in private food governance: The legitimacy of retail standards and multistakeholder initiatives with civil society participation.” Agriculture and Human Values 28 (2011): 353–67. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Ladina Caduff, and Thomas Bernauer. “Managing risk and regulation in European food safety governance.” Review of Policy Research 23 (2006): 153–68. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Bente Halkier, and Lotte Holm. “Shifting responsibilities for food safety in Europe: An introduction.” Appetite 47 (2006): 127–33. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Marian Garcia Martinez, Andrew Fearne, Julie Caswell, and Spencer Henson. “Co-regulation as a possible model of food safety governance: Opportunities for public private partnership.” Food Policy 3 (2007): 299–314. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Marion Healy, Simon Brooke-Taylor, and Peter Liehne. “Reform of food regulation in Australia and New Zealand.” Food Control 14 (2003): 357–65. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Jill Hobbs, Andrew Fearne, and John Spriggs. “Incentive structures for food safety and quality assurance: An international comparison.” Food Control 13 (2002): 77–81. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Gary Sacks, Boyd Swinburn, and Mark Lawrence. “A systematic policy approach to changing the food system and physical environments to prevent obesity.” Australia and New Zealand Health Policy 5 (2008): 5–13. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Ray Winger. “Australia New Zealand Food Standards code.” Food Control 14 (2003): 355. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Kari Elvbakken, Per Lægreid, and Lise Hellebø Rykkja. “Regulation for safe food: A comparison of five European countries.” Scandinavian Political Studies 31 (2008): 125–48. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Richard Souness. “HACCP in Australian food control.” Food Control 11 (2000): 353–57. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Tanya Martin, Elizabeth Dean, Brigid Hardy, Tony Johnson, Fiona Jolly, Fiona Matthews, Ian McKay, Richard Souness, and Jenny Williams. “A new era for food safety regulation in Australia.” Food Control 14 (2003): 429–38. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Jim Gruber, Simon Brooke-Taylor, Julie Goodchap, and Dean McCullum. “Regulation of food commodities in Australia and New Zealand.” Food Control 14 (2003): 367–73. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Food Standards Australia New Zealand [FSANZ]. Consumer Attitudes Survey 2007: A Benchmark Survey of Consumers’ Attitudes to Food isSues. Canberra: Food Standards Australia New Zealand, 2008. [Google Scholar]
- Julie Henderson, John Coveney, and Paul R. Ward. “Who regulates food? Australians’ perceptions of responsibility for food safety.” Australian Journal of Primary Health 16 (2010): 334–51. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- John Tulloch, and Deborah Lupton. “Consuming risk, consuming science: The case of GM foods.” Journal of Consumer Culture 2 (2002): 363–83. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Lynn Frewer, Chaya Howard, Duncan Hedderly, and Richard Shepherd. “Methodological approaches to assessing risk perceptions associated with food-related hazards.” Risk Analysis 18 (1998): 95–102. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Louise Holmberg, John Coveney, Julie Henderson, and Samantha Meyer. “What should primary health care practitioners know about factors influencing young people’s food choice? ” Australasian Medical Journal 1 (2010): 156–63. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Peter Williams, E. Stirling, and N. Keynes. “Food fears: a national survey on the attitudes of Australian adults about the safety and quality of food Asia Pacific.” Journal of Clinical Nutrition 13 (2004): 32–9. [Google Scholar]
- Christian Poppe, and Unni Kjærnes. Trust in Food in Europe: A Comparative Analysis. Olso: National Institute for Consumer Research, 2007. [Google Scholar]
- Julie Henderson, John Coveney, Paul R. Ward, and Anne W. Taylor. “Farmers the most trusted part of the Australian food chain: results from a national survey of consumers.” Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 35 (2011): 319–24. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Anne W. Taylor, A. John Coveney, Paul R. Ward, Elenora Dal Grande, Loreen Mamerow, Julie Henderson, and Samantha Meyer. “The Australian Food and Trust Survey: Demographic indicators associated with food safety and quality concerns.” Food Control 25 (2012): 476–83. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- David Hosmer, and Stanley Lemeshow. Applied Logistic Regression, 2nd ed. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2000. [Google Scholar]
- Andy Field. Discovering Statistics using SPSS, 3rd ed. London: Sage Publications, 2009. [Google Scholar]
- Anna Wilcock, Maria Pun, Joseph Khanona, and May Aung. “Consumer attitudes, knowledge and behaviour: A review of food safety issues.” Trends in Food Science and Technology 15 (2004): 56–66. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Anthony Worsley, and Victoria Scott. “Consumers’ concerns about food and health in Australia and New Zealand.” Asia-Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition 9 (2000): 24–32. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Anna Mallyon, Mary Holmes, John Coveney, and Maria Zadoroznyj. “I’m not dieting, ‘I’m doing it for science’: Masculinities and the experience of dieting.” Health Sociology Review 19 (2010): 333–42. [Google Scholar]
- Tanja Schneider, and Theresa Davis. “Fostering a hunger for health: Food and the self in ‘The Australian Women’s Weekly’.” Health Sociology Review 19 (2010): 285–303. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Stephanie Chambers, Alexandra Lobb, Lorrie Butler, and W. Bruce Traill. “The Influence of age and gender on food choice: A focus group exploration.” International Journal of Consumer Studies 32 (2008): 356–65. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Marie Marquis. “Exploring convenience orientation as a food motivation for college students living in residence halls.” International Journal of Consumer Studies 29 (2005): 55–63. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Deborah Lupton. “Lay discourses and beliefs related to food risks: An Australian perspective.” Sociology of Health and Illness 27 (2005): 448–67. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Judith Green, Alizon Draper, and Elizabeth Dowler. “Short cuts to safety: Risk and ‘rules of thumb’ in accounts of food choice.” Health Risk and Society 5 (2003): 33–52. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- D. Neumark-Sztainer, M. Story, C. Perry, and M. Casey. “Factors influencing food choices of adolescents: Findings from focus group discussions with adolescents.” Journal of the American Dietetic Association 99 (1999): 929–37. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Marcel Kornelis, Jenneke de Jonge, Lynn Frewer, and Hans Dagevos. “Consumer selection of food-safety information sources.” Risk Analysis 27 (2007): 327–35. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Julie Henderson, Paul R. Ward, John Coveney, and Anne W. Taylor. “‘Health is the number one thing we go for’: Healthism, citizenship and food choice.” In The Future of Sociology. Paper presented at TASA conference, Canberra, Australia, 1–4 December 2009.
- Don Dilman, Glen Phelps, Robert Tortora, Karen Swift, Julie Kohrell, Jodi Berck, and Benjamin Messer. “Response rate and measurement differences in mixed mode surveys using mail, telephone, interactive voice response (IVR) and the internet.” Social Science & Medicine 38 (2009): 1–18. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- R. Curtin, S. Presser, and Eleanor Singer. “Changes in telephone survey non-response over the past quarter century.” Public Opinion Quarterly 69 (2005): 87–88. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Robert Groves. “Nonresponse rates and nonresponse bias in household surveys.” Public Opinion Quarterly 70 (2006): 646–75. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Paul R. Ward, Jill Thompson, Rosemary Barber, Christopher Armitage, Jonathon Boote, Cindy Cooper, and Georgina Jones. “Critical perspectives on ‘consumer involvement’ in health research: Epistemological dissonance and the know-do gap.” Journal of Sociology 46 (2010): 63–82. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Janet Hoek, and Bronwyn King. “Food advertising and self-regulation: A view from the trenches.” Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 32 (2008): 261–65. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
© 2013 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).
Share and Cite
Henderson, J.; Mamerow, L.; Taylor, A.W.; Ward, P.R.; Meyer, S.B.; Coveney, J. The Importance Placed on the Monitoring of Food Safety and Quality by Australian Consumers. Laws 2013, 2, 99-114. https://doi.org/10.3390/laws2020099
Henderson J, Mamerow L, Taylor AW, Ward PR, Meyer SB, Coveney J. The Importance Placed on the Monitoring of Food Safety and Quality by Australian Consumers. Laws. 2013; 2(2):99-114. https://doi.org/10.3390/laws2020099
Chicago/Turabian StyleHenderson, Julie, Loreen Mamerow, Anne W. Taylor, Paul R. Ward, Samantha B. Meyer, and John Coveney. 2013. "The Importance Placed on the Monitoring of Food Safety and Quality by Australian Consumers" Laws 2, no. 2: 99-114. https://doi.org/10.3390/laws2020099